Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Covariation Between DHEA and Testosterone in Adolescent Twins

Concurrent and long-term effects of early pubertal timing on alcohol, cigarette, and cannabis use from adolescence to adulthood

OBJECTIVE

Early pubertal timing is a risk factor for substance use during adolescence. Fewer studies investigated whether early pubertal timing continues to predict substance use in late adolescence and adulthood, suggesting that long-term effects of pubertal timing vary across substances and by biological sex. Finally, existing studies on pubertal timing and substance use in adulthood involved predominantly White samples. Thus, this longitudinal study examined the concurrent and long-term effects of pubertal timing on alcohol, cigarette, and cannabis use together with sex differences in predominantly Black youth from the United States.

METHOD

The sample included 603 youth (52% male, 80% Black) who were interviewed in early adolescence (mean age: 13.2), late adolescence (mean age: 17.6), and young adulthood (mean age: 27.7). During early adolescence, youth self-reported their physical maturation based on Tanner scores, which were adjusted for age and used as indicators of pubertal timing. Youth self-reported their substance use at each time point.

RESULTS

Early pubertal timing was associated with higher odds of alcohol use during early adolescence but did not predict alcohol use during late adolescence or adulthood. While early pubertal timing did not predict cigarette use at any time point, early pubertal timing predicted greater odds for cannabis use during early adolescence and higher rates of cannabis use in adulthood. Moreover, early pubertal timing predicted greater risk for couse of alcohol, cigarettes, and cannabis in adulthood. No effects differed by sex.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that links between pubertal timing and substance use vary across substances and developmental periods. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Sex-specific association between urinary kisspeptin and pubertal development

Kisspeptins play a crucial role during pubertal development, but little is known about how their peripheral concentrations relate to sexual maturation. This is partly due to the lack of non-invasive, quick, and reliable peripheral kisspeptin measures, which limit widespread testing. Here, we investigated the relationship between kisspeptin concentrations measured from midstream urine samples with 2-h retention periods and developmental markers (age, self-reported pubertal status, and saliva concentrations of testosterone and DHEA sulphate ) in 209 typically developing 9- to 15-year-old males and females. As a result of the study, we found marked sex differences. Kisspeptin concentrations were similar between sexes until around 12 years of age, but, thereafter, kisspeptin concentrations in females did not change significantly, whereas, in males, there was a clear positive correlation with developmental measures. Our results replicate previous findings regarding kisspeptin concentration changes across the pubertal transition obtained from blood samples, suggesting that measuring these peptides in urine has the potential for exploring kisspeptins' peripheral effects and their associations with pubertal status.

Influence of gonadal steroids on cortical surface area in infancy

Sex differences in the human brain emerge as early as mid-gestation and have been linked to sex hormones, particularly testosterone. Here, we analyzed the influence of markers of early sex hormone exposure (polygenic risk score (PRS) for testosterone, salivary testosterone, number of CAG repeats, digit ratios, and PRS for estradiol) on the growth pattern of cortical surface area in a longitudinal cohort of 722 infants. We found PRS for testosterone and right-hand digit ratio to be significantly associated with surface area, but only in females. PRS for testosterone at the most stringent P value threshold was positively associated with surface area development over time. Higher right-hand digit ratio, which is indicative of low prenatal testosterone levels, was negatively related to surface area in females. The current work suggests that variation in testosterone levels during both the prenatal and postnatal period may contribute to cortical surface area development in female infants.

The Distinct Roles of Biological and Perceived Pubertal Timing in Delinquency and Depressive Symptoms from Adolescence to Adulthood

Pubertal timing is a robust predictor of externalizing and internalizing problems in adolescence, but controversies remain whether only early or off-time (both early and late) pubertal timing is associated with negative developmental outcomes and whether effects differ across perceptions of pubertal timing and actual biological pubertal timing. Additionally, less is known about the longevity of pubertal timing effects and mediators of effects that persist through adolescence and into adulthood. This longitudinal study investigated the effects of early and off-time pubertal timing, in form of perceived pubertal timing relative to peers and reported biological pubertal timing relative to age, on delinquency and depressive symptoms in adolescence and young adulthood between 2003 and 2022. Peer deviance and school connectedness were examined as mediators of any persisting effects. The sample included 704 youth (52% male, 76% African American, 22% Non-Hispanic White) who were assessed at four time points from early adolescence (Mean ages: 11.8, 13.2) to late adolescence (Mean age: 17.6) and young adulthood (Mean age: 27.7). Perceived off-time pubertal timing in males and early biological pubertal timing in both males and females were risk factors for persistent delinquency into young adulthood, but neither form of pubertal timing was associated with depressive symptoms. None of the effects were mediated by peer deviance or school connectedness. These findings advance the understanding of more nuanced effects of pubertal timing on adjustment problems in diverse youth as they develop from early adolescence to adulthood.

Longitudinal effects of family psychopathology and stress on pubertal maturation and hormone coupling in adolescent twins

Adolescents experience profound neuroendocrine changes, including hormone "coupling" between cortisol, testosterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone. Emerging research has only begun to elucidate the role of hormone coupling, its genetic and environmental etiology, and the extent to which coupling is impacted by gender, puberty, and family context. We included measures on parent and child mental health, parenting stress, and family conflict of 444 twin pairs and their parents across two timepoints, when youth were on average 8 and 13 years old, respectively. Structural equation models examined the impact of family context effects on coupling during adolescence. Biometric twin models were then used to probe additive genetic, shared, and non-shared environmental effects on hormone coupling. Hormones were more tightly coupled for females than males, and coupling was sensitive to parental depression and co-twin psychopathology symptoms and stress exposure in females. The association between family context and coupling varied across specific neuroendocrine measures and was largely distinct from pubertal maturation. Biometric models revealed robust shared and non-shared environmental influences on coupling. We found that family antecedents modify the strength of coupling. Environmental influences account for much of the variation on coupling during puberty. Gender differences were found in genetic influences on coupling.

Next Steps in Puberty Research: Broadening the Lens Toward Understudied Populations

Decades of puberty research have yielded key scientific discoveries. Building on the field's rich history, we highlight four understudied populations: youth of color, boys, sexual minority youth, and gender minority youth. We explore why scientific study has been slow to evolve in these groups and propose paths forward for exciting new work. For ethnically racially diverse youth, we discuss the need to incorporate culture and context. For boys, we highlight methodological issues and challenges of mapping existing conceptual models onto boys. For sexual and gender minority youth, we discuss unique challenges during puberty and suggest ways to better capture their experiences. With an eye toward a new era, we make recommendations for next steps and underscore the importance of transdisciplinary research.

Genetic and environmental influences on pubertal hormones in human hair across development

Puberty is a complex biopsychosocial process that can affect an array of psychiatric and medical disorders emerging in adolescence. Although the pubertal process is driven by neuroendocrine changes, few quantitative genetic studies have directly measured puberty-relevant hormones. Hair samples can now be assayed for accumulation of hormones over several months. In contrast to more conventional salivary measures, hair measures are not confounded by diurnal variation or hormonal reactivity. In an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of 1286 child and adolescent twins and multiples from 672 unique families, we estimated genetic and environmental influences on hair concentrations of testosterone, DHEA, and progesterone across the period of 8-18 years of age. On average, male DHEA and testosterone were highly heritable, whereas female DHEA, progesterone, and puberty were largely influenced by environmental components. We identified sex-specific developmental windows of maximal heritability in each hormone. Peak heritability for DHEA occurred at approximately 10 years of age for males and females. Peak heritability for testosterone occurred at age 12.5 and 15.2 years for males and females, respectively. Peak heritability for male progesterone occurred at 11.2 years, while the heritability of female progesterone remained uniformly low. The identification of specific developmental windows when genetic signals for hormones are maximized has critical implications for well-informed models of hormone-behavior associations in childhood and adolescence.

Twin models of environmental and genetic influences on pubertal development, salivary testosterone, and estradiol in adolescence

OBJECTIVE

Research on sources of variation in adolescent's gonadal hormone levels is limited. We sought to decompose individual differences in adolescent testosterone, estradiol, and pubertal status, into genetic and environmental components.

DESIGN

A sample of male and female adolescent twins from the greater Austin and Houston areas provided salivary samples, with a subset of participants providing longitudinal data at 2 waves.

PARTICIPANTS

The sample included 902 adolescent twins, 49% female, aged 13-20 years (M = 15.91) from the Texas Twin Project. Thirty-seven per cent of twin pairs were monozygotic; 30% were same-sex dizygotic (DZ) pairs; and 33% were opposite-sex DZ pairs.

MEASUREMENTS

Saliva samples were assayed for testosterone and estradiol using chemiluminescence immunoassays. Pubertal status was assessed using self-report. Biometric decompositions were performed using multivariate quantitative genetic models.

RESULTS

Genetic factors contributed substantially to variation in testosterone in males and females in the follicular phase of their menstrual cycle (h2  = 60% and 51%, respectively). Estradiol was also genetically influenced in both sexes, but was predominately influenced by nonshared environmental factors. The correlation between testosterone and estradiol was mediated by a combination of genetic and environmental influences for males and females. Genetic and environmental influences on hormonal concentrations were only weakly correlated with self-reported pubertal status, particularly for females.

CONCLUSIONS

Between-person variability in adolescent gonadal hormones and their interrelationship reflects both genetic and environmental processes, with both testosterone and estradiol containing sizeable heritable components.

Developmental differences in reward sensitivity and sensation seeking in adolescence: Testing sex-specific associations with gonadal hormones and pubertal development

Sensation seeking has been found to increase, on average, from childhood to adolescence. Developmental scientists have hypothesized that this change could be driven by the rise of gonadal hormones at puberty, which affect reward-related processing in the brain. In a large, age-heterogeneous, population-based sample of adolescents and young adults (N = 810; ages 13-20 years), we tested for sex-specific associations between age, self-reported pubertal development, gonadal hormones (estradiol and testosterone) as measured in saliva, reward sensitivity as measured by a multivariate battery of in-laboratory tasks (including the Iowa gambling task, balloon analogue risk task, and stoplight task), and self-reported sensation seeking. Reward sensitivity was more strongly associated with sensation seeking in males than females. For both males and females, reward sensitivity was unrelated to age but was higher among those who reported more advanced pubertal development. There were significant sex differences in the effects of self-reported pubertal development on sensation seeking, with a positive association evident in males but a negative association in females. Moreover, gonadal hormones also showed diverging associations with sensation seeking-positive with testosterone but negative with estradiol. Overall, the results indicate that sensation seeking among adolescents and young adults depends on a complex constellation of developmental influences that operate via sex-specific mechanisms. (PsycINFO Database Record

Social evaluative threat with verbal performance feedback alters neuroendocrine response to stress

Laboratory stress tasks such as the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) have provided a key piece to the puzzle for how psychosocial stress impacts the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, other stress-responsive biomarkers, and ultimately wellbeing. These tasks are thought to work through biopsychosocial processes, specifically social evaluative threat and the uncontrollability heighten situational demands. The present study integrated an experimental modification to the design of the TSST to probe whether additional social evaluative threat, via negative verbal feedback about speech performance, can further alter stress reactivity in 63 men and women. This TSST study confirmed previous findings related to stress reactivity and stress recovery but extended this literature in several ways. First, we showed that additional social evaluative threat components, mid-task following the speech portion of the TSST, were still capable of enhancing the psychosocial stressor. Second, we considered stress-reactive hormones beyond cortisol to include dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and testosterone, and found these hormones were also stress-responsive, and their release was coupled with one another. Third, we explored whether gain- and loss-framing incentive instructions, meant to influence performance motivation by enhancing the personal relevance of task performance, impacted hormonal reactivity. Results showed that each hormone was stress reactive and further had different responses to the modified TSST compared to the original TSST. Beyond the utility of showing how the TSST can be modified with heightened social evaluative threat and incentive-framing instructions, this study informs about how these three stress-responsive hormones have differential responses to the demands of a challenge and a stressor.

Heritability of serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate levels and pubertal development in 6∼18-year-old girls: a twin study

BACKGROUND

Dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS), the most plentiful circulating adrenal hormone, may be considered as a marker of the onset of adrenarche and is involved in pubertal development and metabolic disorders.

AIM

The objective of this study is to determine the genetic and environmental influences on the variation of basal DHEAS levels and pubertal development in pubertal girls.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

Three hundred and sixty twin girls aged 6-18-years were enrolled, consisting of 132 monozygotic pairs and 48 dizygotic pairs. Anthropometric and sexual characteristics were examined. Serum DHEAS was measured by RIA. Estimates of genetic and environmental components of variance were based on the theory of normal maximum likelihood in Mx package.

RESULTS

Serum DHEAS concentrations of PH-II and PH-III were significantly higher than Tanner stage PH-I (p < .05) and maintained higher levels in PH-IV ∼ V. Heritability of serum DHEAS estimated by model-fitting on data from 180-pairs of twins is 0.61 (0.52-0.70), the rest of the variance in DHEAS levels could be explained by unique environmental influences and age. The heritabilities of DHEAS in two pubertal sub-groups (PH-I and PH-II-V) are 0.82 (0.71-0.90) and 0.63 (0.52-0.74), respectively. The heritability index of menarche, breast development and pube development are 0.71, 0.35 and 0.45, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Serum DHEAS concentrations of pubertal girls are mainly influenced by genetic factors, especially during the period of adrenarche. The results stress the importance of research into the genetic regulation of the endocrine regulators involved in adrenarche and related metabolic disorders in girls.